Annie Le's Family Sues, Saying Yale Failed To Protect Women On Campus

Suit Says University Knew Of Clark's Aggressive Behavior

NEW HAVEN — — The family of a Yale University student murdered by a co-worker in a campus research facility two years ago filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Tuesday against the university, accusing Yale of failing to protect women and tolerating aggressive male behavior.

The 10-page lawsuit, filed at Superior Court in New Haven by the administrator of the estate of slain student Annie Le, says: "Yale had long taken inadequate steps to ensure the safety and security of women on its campus."

The lawsuit alleges that "sexual attacks on and harassment of women at Yale had been a well-documented and long-standing problem, and there was a widespread belief that Yale repeatedly failed to impose meaningful discipline on offenders."

The lawsuit also accuses Yale of being slow to respond to concerns that Le was missing.

Although Yale was aware that Le did not return home on the night of Sept. 8, 2009, the university "did not investigate her absence in earnest until the following morning," the lawsuit states.

A Superior Court judge in June sentenced Raymond Clark III to 44 years in prison for the slaying of Le, a third-year doctoral student in pharmacology and bride-to-be from Placerville, Calif. She was reported missing Sept. 8, 2009, shortly before her wedding.

At first, some speculated that Le might have been a runaway bride. For days, local and state investigators and the FBI searched the basement of the Yale Animal Research Center, a research building at the Yale School of Medicine complex where Le was last seen alive. Clark worked as a lab technician at the center, and Le did research there.

Police found Le's body stuffed inside the wall of the lab on Sept. 13, the day that Le, 24, was to be married. The state medical examiner said that Le was strangled and her body was badly beaten. Many of her bones were broken in the attack.

Yale University and the Yale School of Medicine are named in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified compensatory damages.

Attorneys Paul Slager of Stamford and Joseph Tacopina of New York, who represent Le's family, said in a statement that Yale had "long taken inadequate steps to ensure the safety and security of women on its campus. Yale's persistent tolerance of sexual harassment and sexual assaults on campus caused students to file a Title IX Complaint against Yale University. And, just five days before she was to be married, Annie Le was a victim of that environment."

The lawsuit says that Yale knew or should have known that Clark posed a potential threat to the safety of Le, claiming that Clark "previously demonstrated aggressive behavior and a violent propensity towards women."

The lawsuit does not elaborate on the incident involving Clark's alleged behavior and Yale's alleged knowledge of it.

The lawsuit cites a fire alarm that went off in the building the afternoon of Sept. 8, saying that Yale should have known that Le did not leave the building as the others did once the alarm sounded.

"Based on Yale's negligence in, among other things, hiring, retaining and supervising Clark, and providing a safe and secure environment for Annie Le, Ms. Le endured a brutal physical and sexual attack, resulting in significant conscious suffering before her death, for which Yale is liable," the attorneys said in their statement.

In a statement that Yale released Tuesday afternoon, the university said "there is no basis" for the civil suit.

"Yale had no information indicating that Raymond Clark was capable of committing this terrible crime, and no reasonable security measures could have prevented his unforeseeable act," the statement said. "Annie Le's murder shocked and deeply saddened the entire Yale community. As a community we united to support and comfort her family and loved ones, and create a lasting memorial to her life. This lawsuit serves neither justice nor Annie's memory, and the University will defend against it as appropriate."

At his sentencing in June, Clark apologized for killing Le, lying about the crime and devastating family members on both sides.

"Annie was and will always be a wonderful person, by far a better person than I will ever be in my life," Clark told the judge.

The 44-year prison sentence was part of a plea agreement worked out by prosecutors and defense attorneys. Clark pleaded guilty to charges of murder and criminal attempt to commit sexual assault. The plea to the latter charge was entered under the Alford doctrine, meaning that Clark did not admit guilt but conceded that there probably was enough evidence to convict him at trial. Clark previously faced charges of murder and felony murder.

Clark, 26, of Middletown, could get out of prison in 2053. He is not eligible for parole.

According to court records, Le swiped her key card that allowed her to enter the Yale building at 10:11 a.m. on Sept. 8, 2009. Clark, who tended the animals there, wasn't far behind, reporting for work at the center 29 minutes later.